90-Day Finding on a Petition To Delist the California Brown Pelican and Initiation of a 5-Year Review for the Brown Pelican

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce a 90-day finding on a petition to remove the California brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants pursuant to section 4(b)(3) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. We, therefore, are initiating a status review of the California brown pelican to determine if delisting under the Act is warranted. We note that the taxon on the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Species is the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). The petition requests specifically the delisting of the California brown pelican, (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus), rather than the delisting of the entire listed entity. Brown pelicans in coastal States along the Atlantic Coast and in Florida and Alabama were removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife on February 4, 1985 (50 FR 4938). The brown pelican remains listed as endangered throughout the remainder of its range in North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. Because a status review is also required for the 5-year review of listed species under section 4(c)(2)(A) of the Act, we are electing to initiate a 5-year review of the brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) throughout its range and prepare these reviews simultaneously. The purpose of reviews conducted under this section of the Act is to ensure that the classification of species as threatened or endangered on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants is accurate. To ensure that the reviews are comprehensive, we are soliciting scientific and commercial information regarding this species.